How to Choose Colours for Your Kitchen

Choosing a colour scheme for your kitchen is easier when you look at the room as a whole rather than starting with a shade you like on its own.

Kitchen colour inspiration can give you ideas, but the right kitchen colour depends on what is already in the room, how much natural light it gets and how you use the space day to day.

A colour that works in a bright showroom may give a very different result at home.

Start With the Parts of the Kitchen You Are Keeping – By Glasgow kitchen wrapping experts

Before you choose a colour, look at the worktop, flooring, splashback and kitchen accessories and appliances that are staying.

These fixed finishes give you a useful starting point for the colour palette.

They can act as a base colour or help narrow down which colour pairings will sit naturally around them.

If the floor has warm wood tones, for example, a very cool cabinet tone may look disconnected from the rest of the kitchen.

The same applies to existing kitchen cabinets that are being updated rather than replaced.

Your chosen colour needs to work with what remains in the room, not just look good on a sample by itself.

Consider the Light in the Room

Natural light can change the way a hue looks throughout the day.

A colour in a bright south-facing kitchen can appear stronger than the same tone in a darker room.

In a small kitchen or smaller kitchen with limited daylight, lighter paint colours and finishes can help the kitchen feel larger and more open.

Dark tones are still possible, but they need enough contrast around them.

If you are considering a deeper blue, our guide on what colours go with midnight blue kitchen explains how lighter walls, worktops and flooring can balance darker cabinetry.

Artificial lighting matters too.

The same chosen colour can look noticeably different in the evening, so judge the colour in your space under the lighting you actually use.

Think About How You Use the Kitchen

A busy family kitchen has different practical needs from one used mainly for occasional cooking or entertaining.

Very dark or very pale surfaces may show fingerprints, crumbs and everyday marks differently.

If the kitchen gets heavy daily use, think about how much maintenance you are comfortable with as well as how the colour looks.

This does not mean avoiding a bold colour. Practical use should simply be part of the kitchen design decision.

Decide How You Want the Kitchen to Feel

Colour can change the mood of the room.

Warm tones such as cream, beige and muted earthy shades can create a softer kitchen feel.

Cooler blue, green and grey tones can suit a modern kitchen or contemporary kitchen, depending on the surrounding finishes.

A white kitchen or cream kitchen gives you a fairly neutral colour as a base, while a blue, green or black kitchen makes the cabinetry more of a focal point.

Natural colour tones such as timber and warm stone can also soften a stronger scheme.

If you already have a particular neutral in mind, our guide on what colours go with dove grey kitchen units looks at how to build a scheme around grey.

Think about whether you want to create a kitchen that feels calm and understated or one where the cabinetry makes more of a statement. If you want something timeless, a quieter base can also make it easier to change accessories and smaller details later.

Your kitchen style matters too. A traditional kitchen may suit a different palette from a sleek modern design, so the best colour depends on the room rather than one universal rule.

Choose a Colour Scheme That Works Together

You do not need to study the colour wheel in detail, but understanding a few basic kitchen colour combinations can make it easier to find the right colour scheme.

Analogous colours sit close together on the colour wheel and usually create a softer, more harmonious kitchen.

Complementary colours give you stronger contrast.

Another simple approach is to choose a neutral base colour and introduce one accent colour or pop of colour through a kitchen island, splashback, stools or smaller details.

This keeps the use of colour controlled rather than making too many colours compete in the same room.

Decide How Much Colour You Want

You do not have to use the chosen tone across every cabinet.

A two-tone kitchen colour scheme could use one colour on the base units and another above, or keep most of the cabinetry neutral while using a bold colour on the kitchen island.

This can work well if you like a strong shade but do not want it across the whole kitchen.

Test Colours in the Kitchen Before You Commit

Samples are worth checking in the actual room before you make a final choice.

Place them beside the worktop, flooring and splashback, then look at the colour in morning light, later in the day and under your usual artificial lighting.

Kitchen inspiration is useful, but another person’s room may have different light, flooring and surrounding finishes.

The best kitchen colours are the ones that work with the kitchen you actually have rather than simply following kitchen trends.

Not Sure Which Colour Will Work in Your Kitchen?

If you like the current layout of your kitchen but want to change how it looks, wrapping can give the existing cabinets a new colour and finish without replacing the whole kitchen.

Wrap Wizard has a wide range of colours and finishes to choose from, whether you want something neutral, darker or more of a statement.

If you are unsure what will work with your existing worktops, flooring and fittings, get in touch for a free estimate. The team can assess the kitchen and show you samples so you can compare the options in the room itself.